Name: Katharine Feather

Position: Head of Science School: Greenfield Community School

I was really after a new challenge, and although New York was a fun place to live it was very difficult to save any money. I had applied for jobs all over the world but Greenfield Community School was the most exciting offer.”

Originally from the UK, Feather spent her summer visiting five National Parks in the United States — from Colorado to Wyoming, via Montana to Alaska. Landing in Dubai just recently, this isn’t her first time teaching overseas.

“I was teaching at the United Nations International School in New York for the past four years. It was an amazing experience to have such close links with the UN, we even held our graduation in the General Assembly.”

Feather’s decision to move to Dubai is two-fold; it ticks all the boxes when it comes to challenging herself professionally, and on a personal note, it will give her the opportunity to save.

“I was really after a new challenge, and although New York was a fun place to live it was very difficult to save any money. I had applied for jobs all over the world but Greenfield Community School was the most exciting offer.”

Coming in as the head of Secondary Science, Feather said she has a lot of ideas about how she can integrate STEAM practices into the curriculum. And with Expo 2020 coming up, its theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ provides the “perfect opportunity to inspire students to be creative and innovative” both in and out of the classroom.

When it comes to her best quality as a teacher, her curiosity is something she hopes to pass along to her students.

“I’m still learning more about science as an adult, and I hope that I can inspire the same curiosity about the way the world works in my students. I think my previous students would describe me as being ‘firm but fair’. They would also say that I am a little too obsessed with David Attenborough, he is a hero of mine and inspired my love of travelling and the natural world.”